And to Europe we shall go!
by Fireblade K'Chona
Summary: Suze's school is going on a tour of Europe, starting in England, through France, then ending in Spain! As for the rest...you shall have to see. ...and this doesn't follow the last book at all.


Disclaimer: Let's see...I don't own Suze, I don't own Jesse (sad!)...basically, if you recognize it, chances are I don't own it.  
  
Basic summary: Suze is going on a school trip with her entire grade and David, since he got special permission. Father D is not going. Sister Ernestine is. Um...it's a tour of Europe, beginning in England and ending in Spain. First to England, through London, then to France, then to Spain. David is the only middle-schooler coming along.  
  
Let's see...oh, yes. Seating! This pane has two seats by each window and the big row in the middle. Susannah is on the left-hand part of the big row of seats, on the aisle. David is on her right. CeeCee is on the aisle right across from Suze, and Adam has the window. Brad is up in the seat right behind first class. You know, with all the leg room. Yeah. And...the plane is in England, flying over farms. Yup. It's about eight in the morning there and the plane is flying.  
  
Paul is not on this trip. He bugs me. And he won't fit into the plot. This trip is after Haunted, and Paul is...just not going. Yeah.  
  
Muse responsible: No idea.  
  
Suze's POV. [Suze's thoughts]  
  
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I sat in my seat, chatting lazily with Adam and CeeCee. David was engrossed in a book that by all rights was too thick to technically exist. Outside of Adam's window, the clouds were spun into different shapes as the plane cruised.  
  
We were on our way to Europe, and the captain had just informed us we were over England and would be landing in about an hour.  
  
I sighed inwardly. I wasn't wild about this trip, but my mother had insisted, saying that Europe was filled with history and however leery I was of old buildings, nothing was going to happen.  
  
If only she knew that it was the history that was the problem. These places were ancient! There would be ghosts everywhere!  
  
I wrenched my mind back to the conversation at the same time a man stood up. He stood in my aisle, up near Brad and the rest of the wrestlers, and waved for quiet. Gradually, the cabin fell silent. [What's he doing?] I wondered, right before he began to speak.  
  
This man had a thick Southern accent that was so pronounced, it was surely fake. But his words were such as to make the accent unnoticed.  
  
"Ah don't wish to alahm anyone," he said, in his thick accent, smiling and holding up both hands.  
  
In one was a greenish-silver object with a red button on it.  
  
In the other was a gun.  
  
"No one move, please," he said, pleasantly, "Mah friend is up in the cockpit with a gun to the pahlot's heahd. Unless y'all want the pahlot to crash us prematurely, I recommend y'all remain sahlent."  
  
The cabin had gone dead quiet. David went white and grabbed my left hand, pulling it awkwardly across my body to grip tighter than I had ever guessed he was able to. My own heart seemed to have stopped as I raised my right hand slowly to my mouth.  
  
Adam and CeeCee had frozen. Slowly, CeeCee's hand moved to grab Adam's, and he gripped hers back.  
  
"We ahr goin to crash into Old Ben," continued the terrorist, "In about half an hour. Nobody move, please, or Ah shall have to shoot you. Or possibly detonate this heah bomb."  
  
My right hand covered David's as I began to shake. I looked around slowly. No ghosts in sight.  
  
[If I ever needed Jesse, it's now-] I thought wildly, [I need him to float the bomb out of that guy's hand and the gun and the other gun-]  
  
And suddenly, a spectral glow bloomed at my left, in the aisle. Jesse de Silva looked down at me, clearly extremely confused. "Susannah, where am I? Why did you call me?"  
  
I eyed the man up in the aisle, standing casually with gun and bomb in hand. Jesse followed my gaze and began to move-but I released David with my right hand and twisted slightly to grab an edge of his shirt. As he looked down at me, I shook my head. David was not paying attention, instead shaking. I squeezed him reassuringly with my trapped left hand and picked up a pencil that David had been using to underline passages in his book. Taking the Skymall magazine, I flipped to a mostly blank page, occupied only by an advertisement at the bottom and a picture of a lotion bottle, and wrote:  
  
"Jesse, do not do anything until I put the pencil down." I paused in my writing and looked up. Jesse nodded, intent on my writing. I continued, "The man standing in the aisle with his hands full has a gun in one hand and a bomb in the other. He has a partner with a gun at the head of the pilot. If his plan goes right, he will crash us into London's famous clock, Old Ben. If any of us misbehave, he will detonate the bomb. Can you get both guns and the bomb in one go and keep them out of the hands of the terrorists?"  
  
My hands were shaking as I finished the note, set the pencil down, and looked up at Jesse. Jesse's eyebrow-scar went white in fury as he nodded. He stalked forward, a splotch of movement against the still cabin. David opened his eyes and read the note, frowning slightly. Catching my eye, he whispered, "Jesse's here?"  
  
I gave a reluctant nod.  
  
Just then, the terrorist in the cockpit yelled. A gun flew through the cabin and hit the man with the bomb as both the bomb and the gun flew from his hands. The man stared at the flying objects, shocked-and this was all Brad and the other wrestlers needed. They launched themselves at the terrorist, and within moments, he was unconscious. The first one came running into the cabin, and was likewise dealt with.  
  
As the wrestlers took back their seats, people broke out in shouting, crying, praying, cheering-no one seemed to truly notice the two guns and the bomb floating by the ceiling.  
  
CeeCee did, however, and gave me a quick glance before turning to Adam and assuring him that she was fine in a quavering voice. David slumped in his seat-and to my horror, started to cry. The captain came over on the microphone and said, in a shaky voice, "Please fasten your seatbelts for an emergency landing on an English highway. Welcome to England."  
  
I put an arm around David as the pilot brought us in on a smooth landing. We evacuated the plane on the emergency slides, and Jesse set the guns gently down in front of the captain.  
  
Junipero Serra Mission students clustered to one side. Sister Ernestine was kneeling and clutching her rosary, praying in a shaken voice words of thanks. CeeCee was crying into Adam's shoulder, and Adam was holding her tightly and patting her on the back. His white face convinced me that he too was shaking.  
  
Brad pushed his way through the crowd and saw David. He rushed forward, and to my shock, grabbed his little brother in a tight hug. "Are you all right?" he asked the kid he normally beat up on, but David was unable to do anything but shake and allow tears to seep down his face. I detached myself from the main group.  
  
Just then, the full impact of what had just happened hit me like a sledgehammer to the face. I crumpled to my knees and began shaking as well, now that the crisis was over.  
  
Jesse dropped to his knees beside me, and before I could say anything, snatched me up in his arms-just like the time Maria had been threatening me and he found me in David's room with the pick and the hammer and the axe- and buried his face in my hair. I could tell he was shaking too, and he squeezed me so tightly, I could hardly breathe. He was murmuring into my hair as well-I caught little of it as I wrapped my own arms around him and buried my face in his shoulder-but I heard, "Nom de Dios, nom de Dios, Susannah, querida-"  
  
The rest was in Spanish, but the message was clear. I found that tears were seeping out of my eyes as he murmured into my hair. After a few minutes of this, Jesse released me gently. "Susannah?" he asked, holding me by the shoulders and looking me in the face.  
  
I couldn't look away, but tears were pouring down my face. Jesse released one shoulder and pulled out his handkerchief, holding it to my nose. "Blow," he told me, firmly, and I blew my nose. He replaced it in his pocket and shifted to sit beside me, one arm firmly over my shoulders. I leaned on him, no doubt looking a bit odd, but grateful to have someone there to support me.  
  
Adam helped me up as CeeCee at last detached herself. I stood reluctantly. "Suze, are you all right?" asked Adam, "I'll kiss it better," he offered, with a trace of his usual humor.  
  
I glanced at Jesse, my eyes widening. Sure enough, his eyebrows rose. "No thanks, Adam," I said shakily, "I'll be all right."  
  
CeeCee joined our little group, clustering in with Adam and I. We stood in a tiny circle for a moment, reassuring each other silently that we were all alive and all right. At last, we drew apart.  
  
"Back on the plane!" called Sister Ernestine, rounding us up. We filed back on, up a staircase and into the cabin again. Resuming our seats, we waited for the takeoff.  
  
Jesse was still beside me. Looking sideways at him, I said, under my breath, "Jesse, what are you doing?"  
  
"If you are in such danger again, I do not want to be so far from you," said Jesse, "I will guard you on this trip."  
  
I blinked. Then blinked again. "Any particular reason why?" I asked, still holding my voice to a whisper. David had packed his book back in his bag and was talking to Sister Ernestine, who had taken a seat beside the youngest person on the trip, swapping with Debbie Reynolds.  
  
Jesse hesitated. "I do not wish to see you come to harm," he admitted.  
  
I hate to admit this, but my heart kind of jumped at those words. Even after our second kiss, Jesse was still trying to act as he normally did. Which doesn't make any sense. But then, the entire situation didn't make sense.  
  
There wasn't exactly anywhere for Jesse to sit, but he stood in the middle of the aisle as the plane took off. He didn't even move when one of the flight attendants pushed the coffee cart through him-and he hates being walked through.  
  
Strange though it was, I felt a lot better with Jesse there. I trusted him- and I knew he would keep his word and guard me well.  
  
That knowledge in my mind, I fell asleep for the short remainder of the trip.  
  
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And so it begins. This was inspired by my school trip to France! And when I was touring a castle, suddenly I was just like, "There are definitely ghosts here."  
  
I considered this for a bit, and then I said, "Whoa! Poor Suze...she would not like this trip..."  
  
And it went from there.  
  
Reviews are loved!  
  
Fireblade K'Chona 


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